Hold on Kirk, let me ask the computer....

Remember Spock on the bridge in his thoughtful pose or Uhuru always ready at the keyboard? And do you remember how they would effortlessly ask a question(verbal or keyboard) and the computer interface on the bridge would instantly produce a concise answer? No issues with response time, search variables, heterogeneous or unfederated databases, calls to the help desk, etc. As I was riding back on the plane last week, with time to reflect on the Information on Demand(IoD) conference in Anaheim, I was left with a strong sense of IoD as more of a movement now than a marketing campaign, born and thriving...a movement driven by the need for information. It's about the need to make better use of the data that inundates our daily lives, it's about the ability to get the exact information from that data in a timeframe that usefully serves the need.

In a recent article written by Allen Brown entitled The next information revolution he writes, 'This new kind of information flow without boundaries requires a technical infrastructure built on open standards--one that is designed to enable individuals as well as their distinct IT systems to all work together...we'll need great architects who can develop and implement a great architecture...'

Could not agree more! In fact, my presentation at IoD echoed exactly that. More importantly I outlined how the extensive autonomic standards work and architecture, already in place, now being leveraged by on demand , SOA , ITSM , or by IoD , is serving as an enabler to this movement. Brown also writes about the movement's need for qualified architects and to that end we have worked extensively to make nonproprietary tools, technologies, accelerators available on developerWorks, and alphaWorks , and now even opensource as well as training for business partners at our global IBM Innovation Centers.

Of course a movement needs a forum and the IoD conference in Anaheim was a fantastic start. According to Brown, the Open Group will also launch the industry's first association of enterprise architects early next year which will serve as a forum for advancement and best practices as well.